St. Clair County Resource Recovery Office

Personal
Care Products

Most personal-care products, such as medicines, skin-care products, and other items
commonly used on skin and hair, are not considered an environmental hazard in their
disposal. Only a few personal-care products are considered hazardous waste when
they are not used up.

This fact sheet provides instructions for household personal-care products disposal.
The St. Clair County Resource Recovery Office also has fact sheets on how to dispose
of other common types of household hazardous waste:

Although most of these products are not considered hazardous waste and can be disposed
of at home, in most cases it is better to use up the products than to throw them
away. If you don't have a use for these items, give them to someone who can use
them up.

DISPOSAL: When you can't use it up.

Medications:

If you have a backyard septic tank, experts generally advise that you not dispose
of products in your system because of the risk of destroying the bacteria that make
the system function.

Medicinal creams and other medicines can be disposed of in your regular trash.

Chemotherapy drugs are hazardous wastes and should be returned to the hospital or
pharmacy where you purchased or received them. Be very careful when handling these
medications-they are extremely toxic.

Other personal-care products: Cosmetics, skin and hair-care products, can
be disposed of in the trash if they are solids. The only exceptions are nail polish,
nail polish remover and products in aerosol containers.

Nail polish should be dried out and hardened before it is thrown away. Do this by
opening the cap and allowing the contents to dry, in an outside area away from children,
pets and sources of heat or flame. Once the contents are completely dry and hardened,
the container can be thrown in the trash.

Nail-polish remover is a flammable solvent and should not be poured down the drain
because of the risk of explosion in the sewer system. Nail-polish remover that can't
be used up should be saved for a household hazardous waste collection. Call the
St. Clair County Resource Recovery Office at (810) 985-2443 for information on collection
dates and times.